Fears for sufferers of rare genetic disorder as funding dwindles

The MJD Foundation was established on Groote Eylandt in the Northern Territory in 2008 to support people with Machado Joseph Disease, a rare genetic disorder in which sufferers eventually become wheelchair bound and lose the ability to swallow food. The Federal Government has cancelled a $10 million grant to the Foundation and instead is providing it half a million dollars a year till the National Disability Insurance Scheme begins. But the foundation's worried the NDIS won't provide enough support to the growing number of MJD sufferers in the area.